Why? Even if the picture weren’t a fake cobbled together from a private picture of a college student that someone ripped off the web, would that have proven hypocrisy? SHOCKER: CONSERVATIVE COLUMNIST DOES NOT SWIM IN A BURQINI.

Well, they thought–they hoped–that those fake photos of Michelle would somehow undermine her credibility with conservatives.

They don’t know us very well, do they? Even religious conservatives who emphasize modesty aren’t going to be wagging their finger and snarling “SINNER!” at someone who was once in a beauty contest or got her picture taken in a swimsuit. So once again, this is about to fall flat, like Brick Tamlin’s attempt to belittle his opponents’ sartorial taste:

See, the Left keeps on buying its own propaganda. There are a lot of slick hucksters there who tell them what they want to hear about how conservatives think and make decisions. Thomas Frank comes to mind, as does perennial tool George Lakoff.

Hey, it’s necessary to keep the liberal Strike Force! stoked at a fever pitch of seething hatred. That’s where the activism and the money and the silencing of opponents comes from. But then the problem is that they actually believe that this is how conservatives think and feel, and they make strategic mistakes because of it.